Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them and they retreated along the way to the desert.

He then asked, “Which invasion route are we going to take?” ¹  Jehoram ²  answered, “By the road through the Desert of Edom.”

Yes, ¹  look! Those far from you ²  die; you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you. ³ 

You crushed the heads of Leviathan; ¹  you fed ²  him to the people who live along the coast. ³ 

to the one who led his people through the wilderness, for his loyal love endures,

the people of Dedan, Tema, Buz, ¹  all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples; ² 

At the risk ¹  of our lives ²  we get our food ³  because robbers lurk ⁴  in the countryside. ⁵ 

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness ¹  to be tempted by the devil.

Peter ¹  said to him, “If they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away!”

In the wilderness ¹  John the baptizer ²  began preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ³ 

His disciples answered him, “Where can someone get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy these people?”

But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness.

For the fields of Heshbon are dried up, as well as the vines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations trample all over its vines, which reach Jazer and spread to the desert; their shoots spread out and cross the sea.

So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them. Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them. Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. ¹  For they have rebelled so much and done so many unfaithful things. ² 

That is, I will punish the Egyptians, the Judeans, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples. ¹  I will do so because none of the people of those nations are really circumcised in the Lord’s sight. ²  Moreover, none of the people of Israel ³  are circumcised when it comes to their hearts.” ⁴ 

And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey ¹  into the desert so that we may sacrifice ²  to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.” ³ 

“Look up at the hilltops and consider this. ¹  You have had sex with other gods on every one of them. ²  You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert. ³  You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods. ⁴ 

But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not follow my statutes and they rejected my regulations (the one who obeys them will live by them), and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I decided to pour out ¹  my rage on them in the wilderness and destroy them. ² 

Even though he flourishes like a reed plant, ¹  a scorching east wind will come, a wind from the Lord rising up from the desert. As a result, his spring will dry up; ²  his well will become dry. That wind ³  will spoil all his delightful foods in the containers in his storehouse.

As Aaron spoke ¹  to the whole community of the Israelites and they looked toward the desert, there the glory of the Lord ²  appeared ³  in the cloud,